The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-04-02
DRUMM0ND'S NATURAL LAW IN
THE SPIRITUAL WORLD"


TO note how the conception of it is
coiored more or less completely by the
prevailing subjects, methods and tone
of thought of the changing cycles of
human development. The savage Ger
manic races clothed it in the concep-
lions of their warlike life, and the gil
gantic forces which they beheld every
where operant about them. The In
dian hunter in the garb of his every
day thought-to him heaven is the
happy hunting ground. The Greeks,
Romans, Jews, ALSO colored their thought
OF a future life with the common
thought of earthly things. And it is
but just, and right, and natural that
we should thus form our conception Of
that life from the conceptions we have
OF this. 1t is impossible to do otherwise.
An unscientific age has peculiar and
special style and tone of thoughtlof its
own; so does a scientific age as well,
and this without reference to the sub
ject-matter treated. An unscientifc
age will treat matters that come within
the range of science in an unscientifc
tone, while scientific age will tend
to treat matters confessedly beyond the
range OF actual experimentation in the
tone and terms of science.
This is apparent in Drummond's
Natural Law in the Spiritual World,''
by teacher of science who seems to
be thoroughly informed. His great
thought is the continuity of law
above as well as below, Operating
wherever there is anything for it to
operate upon. To him nature rises
in one vast graduation from the lowest
existence to the highest, and certain
principle of law Or life pervades it ALL
lst, mineral; 2ad, vegetable; 9rd, ami
NAL; 45h, spiritual, each having GER
tain range of law and life of it's own
Supernatural" is purely a relative
term. The phenomena of plant life are
| oNPSAhes'uA"k AlOn Glio pOluU VI Wow
of the mineral kingdom the phenome-
ma OF animal life are supernatural from
the point of view of the vegetable
kingdom; so the phenomena of spirit
ual life, are supernatural from the point
OF view of the animal kingdom.
Life is correspondence with the en-
vironment. When any existence, there
fore, belonging to any of these king
doms falls out of correspondence with
the environment" which makes that
life, it dies; falls back to lower king
dom. The animal dies because it does
not continue to correspond with it's
animal environment, and as it cannot
correspond with the spiritual environ
ment, it can have no continued exis-
tence. So long as it corresponds, the
animal must correspond with the ami
NAL, the spiritual with the spiritual.
God is the great eternal spiritual envi-
ronment. ''In him we live, and move
and have our being,n but if we are not
in correspondence with him we have no
spiritual life, but are ''dead in tres
passes and sins;" we are merely highly
cultivated, intelligent animals, but not
spiritual beings. When the animal dies,
all there is of us dies; we have no spir-
itual existence because no spiritual
correspondence. If we have a partial
correspondence we have partial and
imperfect, diseased and suffering life
after the death of our animal nature,
and we must either get better or die.
Christ came shat the world might
have life and have it more abundantly,"
that spiritual life which in Adam all
had lost. "He that hath the Son hath
life, and conversely he that hath not
the Son hath not life." We Universal
lists distinguish between the ''life of
the spirit" and spiritual life;" but
Drummond means by spiritual life''
and ''life of the spirit" one and the
self same thing. He thus uses the terms
in their most usual sense, and an exam
ination of the use of the phrases "spir-
itual life" and "life of the spirit" would
be in order from some of our competent
scholars. The great controversy of the
future is to be not between Restora-
tionism and the doctrine of endless
misery, but between Restorationism
and Annihilationism, and it behooves
our theologians to be getting on their
armor. The latter doctrine has many
seeming analogies of nature in its favor;
and increasingly so in this day of in
creasing research into the natural con-
ditions of life. Drummond is we'll pre-
pared for his side of the contest, and
presents the argument in a new way;
and no one is fitted for the fray who
does not first read his thought-sugges-
tive volume. His idea is that the anal
ogies and SMILES possible between spir-
itual and so-called natural things are
not mere resemblances, but the result of
the working of the same law in different
kingdoms; both alike comprised in the
great empire of nature. The book is
very suggestive along this line apart
from the main argument. Ell.
DEATH OF EUGENE F. CARNEY.